Education Support Team Manager

Position Details

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences 

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906

Grade: 6

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2027

Closing date: 20th October 2026

Our offer to you 

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Role Summary

At the University of Birmingham, students are at the heart of all we do. You will lead and manage professional service teams which are passionate about providing excellent administrative support for students and staff. 

Duties may vary between teams, but you will be responsible for taking the lead in all aspects of administration supporting academic staff and the delivery of our teaching and research programmes for students. 

You will oversee the delivery of all teaching and learning related activity within your designated service areas. This will involve managing teams of Professional Services staff and working closely with key senior academic educational leads and the Professional Services network across your designated service area. 

Main Duties

Education Support

• Manage, maintain, and oversee all teaching and learning related activity in accordance with University/ Regulatory Body regulations/Codes of Practice across the academic cycle. This includes supporting quality audits, preparing reports and delivering remedial action plans.
• Working closely with key members of academic and professional services staff to provide an effective administrative service in response to changing needs and priorities; advising other managers and colleagues on matters relating to programme administration and academic administrative support.
• Maintain a focus on the quality of the student experience in your service area, working collaboratively and creatively with colleagues to support student engagement and promote enhancement opportunities.
• Manage and support Education related projects.

Administrative Service

• Ensure accuracy and establish sufficient quality control/data checking methodologies.
• Support the development of plans within your designated service area and, at times, within the University, e.g. as a member of University working groups or committees across your designated service area as and when required either as Secretary or as your area’s representative.
• Prepare and deliver (either as an individual or through your team) management and institutional reporting within set deadlines analysing and interpreting complex data sets where required.
• Troubleshooting and problem solving for any general issues that arise, escalating as necessary to the relevant section or colleague.
• Act as a key contact and link between the designated area, College and University, ensuring that the appropriate academic and professional services staff are kept fully informed regarding changes and updates in practice and policy.
• Proactively engage with/contribute to process improvement and the development of service delivery capability.

Staff Management and Recruitment:

• Individually or through intermediary managers, provide leadership to and manage a team(s) responsible for delivering administrative services to support the educational strategy of your designated service area.
• Recruit and line manage staff, providing continuous support, development, mentoring and training for a specified team. 
• Promote equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Plan and make recommendations on team structures and recruitment strategies that ensure sufficient resources are available to deliver service. This includes maintaining documentation of processes, planning efficient workload allocations and ensuring essential work is covered in the event of absences.
• Manage staff performance and address areas of concern confidentially and sensitively. 
• Build relationships and manage expectations of the team.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent level qualifications) - where no equivalent qualification is held, relevant work experience evidencing progression and development together with evidence of the transferable skills and ability to work at this level will normally be required.
• Educated to at least A Level standard or equivalent.
• Significant practical experience in a similar senior administrative role within a customer service-based environment.
• Experienced in a role where you are expected to provide staff support, development, and motivation.
• Significantly experienced in communicating and collaborating with all levels of staff and able to demonstrate a proven ability to set and maintain standards for your designated service, communicating your own expectations and possibly the expectations of senior colleagues.
• Able to influence change and decision making by evaluating work and analysing the benefits, costs and risks of alternative scenarios.
• Personally well organised, with high levels of team organisation skills, including the ability to ensure deadlines are met by prioritising the work of yourself and your team.
• Ability to work flexibly responding to changing business needs and changes to external legislation, for example Home Office rules and guidance.
• Ability to deal with confidential and sensitive data in accordance with appropriate legislation.

In addition to the above, you should be able to demonstrate and/or evidence the following: 

• Excellent communication skills with a proven ability to communicate effectively with staff, students, and external stakeholders at a variety of different levels and from different professional backgrounds.
• Exemplary attention to detail and the ability to work confidentially, using judgement and making appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role.
• The ability to act with tact and diplomacy when dealing with confidential matters concerning staff, colleagues, and students. 
• Proven IT literacy with demonstrable proficiency in the use of the Microsoft Office suite of programmes.
• Experience of setting up and maintaining complex working systems.
• The ability to work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment. 
• The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment and becoming comfortable with often changing University processes and regulations, making them accessible to the members of your team.
• The ability to develop and manage service delivery capability to high standards.
• A high degree of resourcefulness e.g. the ability to transfer existing knowledge to new situations to formulate a solution to a problem.
• Experience of working in higher education and familiarity with University procedures, policies, structures and systems is desirable but not essential.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

Informal enquiries to Tom Rochester, email: t.e.rochester@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.